Heir of Thunder (Stormbourne Chronicles Book 1)

by Karissa Laurel

  “Yes.” I had heard it many times. Inselgrau was even a Dreutchish word meaning gray island.

  Gideon cleared his throat and continued. “The history of Inselgrau and the Stormbournes is intertwined to the point that that it’s impossible to separate them. It’s a little known fact that your family began their rule in Dreutch, but a clash between two brothers split the family, and one of the brothers left to begin a new kingdom on Inselgrau.

  “Before I came to work for your father, I grew up in the house of Lord Daeg. The faith of the Dreutchish people faded faster than that of their Inselgrish counterparts. It left the Stormbournes of Dreutch without power, and they became the Daegs hundreds of years ago. They still have a great deal of money and influence, but they no longer rule over the storms.”

  “Why would Father never told me of this?” More secrets. I wondered how many more there could be? And how much danger would they bring me, when I couldn’t properly anticipate them? I had worshipped my father, thought him infallible. Recently my faith flagged, though. What service had he thought he was doing me, keeping me ignorant?

  “The Stormbournes and the Daegs have hated each other for centuries. I’m sure your father never spoke of them because it would mean acknowledging they existed.”

  I clenched my jaw. “He wasn’t like that.”

  Whether I had doubts or not, I still refused to hear others speak badly of my father, but the evidence made it hard to continue seeing him in a perfect light.

  Gideon shrugged, but didn’t argue. We stood shoulder to shoulder in silence until Timony directed his airship out of the storm.

  “So, you’re taking me to Lord Daeg?” I asked.

  “Yes, he’s the closest thing to family you have now.”

  “If the Daegs and Stormbournes hate each other, won’t he hate me, too?”

  He traded his candidness for his typical stoicism. “I’m hoping that time has begun to heal old wounds.”

  ***

  The distance from the little town of San Marena to Pecia was half the distance from Pecia to Steinerland, the capital of Dreutch, but we made the journey in less time because the Tippanys were anxious to rejoin their clan. In addition, a great mountain range, called the Omegs, stretched between Galland and Dreutch. The mountains rough and rugged terrain deterred hospitable settlement and discouraged us from stopping anywhere along the way.

  I feared the unknowns of Lord Daeg and his household almost as much as I feared Jackie, Ruelle Thibodaux, and Le Poing Fermé, but I trusted Gideon and his judgment. If he thought this was the best place for me, then I would defer to his wisdom.

  I waited at the starboard bow while Timony made final adjustments to prepare for landing. The horizon rose, and the mountains, once craggy shadows in the distance, now seemed close enough to reach out and touch. A footstep scraped over the boards behind me, and I turned to find Gideon approaching.

  He wore a sly grin and kept his hands behind his back. “I have something for you.”

  “What is it?”

  His smiled widened, revealing his dimple, and he brought out a bundle of fabric that sent my heart soaring.

  “My Thunder Cloak? I thought I had lost it for good.” I swirled the fabric around my shoulders and instantly felt more like myself than I had in weeks.

  “I found it floating in the ocean the night you went overboard. We can’t afford for you to lose it. It’s entirely too useful.”

  A wide grin split my face, and I wanted to sling my arms around Gideon and hug him. Instead, I simply said, “Thank you... for everything.”

  His good cheer faded, and he turned away, putting his profile to me. “I made a promise.”

  I turned back toward the horizon and the faint outline of Steinerland’s skyline shown in the distance as we sank towards the ground. Timony wouldn’t fly closer to the city for fear of attracting unwanted attention. “A Fantazike on his own is too much temptation for the criminally minded,” he had said.

  “How long will it take us to get there?” I asked Gideon.

  “Most of a day, I guess. It would be faster if we both had horses, but with only one... Well, he’ll bear our combined weight, but we’ll have to move slower, and he’ll tire more quickly.”

  The moment after the ship set down and the hold doors were opened, Gideon’s new horse, Wallah, bolted out. He pranced in anxious circles until Niffin managed to calm him and convince him to stand still. Unlike the Rhemonies bred for air travel, Wallah had spent the journey in a nervous tizzy.

  The goodbyes were hard, especially to Malita.

  “Goodbye my friend,” she said, surprising me with the new words she had learned. Tears glittered in her eyes, and her bright smile dimmed. I hugged her fiercely, and she returned my embrace with matching passion. “We meet again.... We meet again.”

  Emorelle, Puri, and Melainey clasped me in a group embrace, and Puri passed me a bundle of goodies from her kitchen. Niffin kissed my cheek and promised to take good care of Malita. Timony said goodbye last, shaking Gideon’s hand before pulling me in for a bone-crushing squeeze. “You are always welcome aboard,” he said. “You have had some bad luck for yourself, but you have brought us nothing but good tidings. If you ever need to take succor with us again, our deck is open to you.”

  “Thank you, Timony....” I wanted to say more, but feared I might start crying, and I had shed enough tears to last a lifetime.

  “There, there, my girl.” Timony patted my shoulder. “We’ll never be but so far away. The world is a much smaller place than most people think.”

  Chapter 31

  Gideon and I waved goodbye from the ground as Timony steered his ship into the clouds. I watched until I could see them no more and, even after they had disappeared, I couldn’t muster the will to move forward.

  “We have to go,” Gideon said.

  My shoulders slumped. “I know.”

  “It’s not as bad as all that. Lord Daeg is stern, but his household will treat you kindly. The prodigal daughter is returning to them, after all.”

  “How do you know they’ll see it that way?”

  He shrugged. “I have a feeling.

  Gideon, Wallah, and I walked in silence through the morning, conserving our breath for the strain of maneuvering through the rolling foothills draining out of the Omeg Mountains. There was no road from here, only a few meager game trails cutting through bracken and brush. We stopped for a short break in the early afternoon, and I opened our goody sack to share the contents with Gideon.

  “You know my story,” he said after swallowing a bite of one of Puri’s rolls. He had perched on a boulder jutting into the edge of our pathway, and he picked at a spot of dried mud on the shin of his tall boot. “But what happened to you after you were arrested by the politzen? That was the last that anyone knew of you until I pulled you from Thibodaux’s house.”

  I crawled up and sat beside him. “It’s not something I care to reminisce about.”

  “You dreamed about it. Talked about it in your sleep. It didn’t make much sense, but was it as horrible as it sounded in your dreams?”

  “It was quickly becoming that way. If you hadn’t come along when you had, I—” The words stuck in my throat, and I coughed, trying to dislodge them. After coughing again, I found it wasn’t words, but a ball of panic. I only realized I was hyperventilating when Gideon pulled me into his arms and stroked my hair.

  “I’m sorry, Evie, I won’t make you speak of it.” He smelled like I remembered—sweat, horses, and leather. I wouldn’t have believed, before, that he could show tenderness to anything without four legs, but this adventure had changed us both a great deal.

  After taking several deep breaths, I chased away my panic. “No.” I shook my head. “I’m being ridiculous. I’ll tell you about it. Maybe it’ll sound less crazy on my tongue than it does in my thoughts.”

  And, so, I told him. I began slowly at first, but then my words came faster and faster until the story spewed from my mouth like vomit.
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  “Do you think it was possible?” Gideon shuddered and tightened his arms around me. “Do you think they knew what they were talking about?”

  “I hope it’s not possible, but they seemed so sure. You were right about not trusting Jackie. I’m sorry I was so careless.”

  “I suspected he was after your throne, but I never suspected he had planned something so... depraved.” He held me close, and we stood in silent contemplation while he digested what I had told him.

  I couldn’t have named the exact moment when his concern turned into something else, but I felt it, a humming in his chest, electricity in his skin. Jackie’s desire for me was a hunger to consume me, to use me, but Gideon’s felt like a kindred soul offering comfort. I couldn’t stop myself from accepting it any easier than I could have stopped a speeding steam locomotive in its tracks. His fingers cupped my jaw. The heat of his approach radiated over me, and the softness of his lips settled on mine.

  A strange and unexpected voice cut through the pulse pounding in my ears. “Ooh, wir haben schlechte zeitwahl, nein Loren?” Ooh, we have bad timing, don’t we Loren?

  “Ja. Du hast recht, Aodan.” Yes. You are right, Aodan.

  Gideon groaned and broke our connection—and good thing he did. Even if the whole world had shown up at that moment, I couldn’t have pulled away. At least one of us possessed some self-control.

  A pair of young men had emerged from the forest, both on horseback. The one who had spoken first wore his black hair cut in jagged cowlicks, as if he had done it himself without a mirror. An expensive riding suit hung on his gaunt frame, and his upper lip showed the shadow of a future mustache. I couldn’t see the color of his eyes, but the shadows around them made them appear dark and deep set.

  Gideon sighed, released me from his embrace, and slid down from our perch on the boulder. “Inselgrish, Aodan, if you please. Be a good little host.”

  “Iche spreche Dreutch,” I said. I speak Dreutchish. It was the one foreign language Father had insisted I learn. Coincidence? At one time I might have thought so. Not anymore.

  “Have you brought us a welcoming party?” Gideon slipped into Dreutchish with the ease of a native-born speaker. The mystery of my companion deepened, and that only made me more nervous.

  He turned to the other boy, a young man with more muscle on his frame than his companion. He wore his shock of blond hair tied back in a thick tail much like Gideon’s. “Hello, Loren. Long time no see.”

  “Yes,” said the one called Aodan. “We saw a Fantazike dirigible while we were out hunting and came to investigate what had become of it.”

  “It’s gone now,” Gidoen said. “It gave us a ride.”

  “Didn’t know the Fantazikes were so cordial.”

  “I guess there are exceptions.”

  While Gideon greeted the two young men, I tried to regain my composure, taking several deep, calming breaths and tucking loose strands of hair into place. When I shifted to Gideon’s side, Aodan and Loren showed interest in me again, and Gideon made introductions.

  “Evie, meet Aodan Daeg and his cousin Loren. They’re inseparable and have been hitched at the hip almost since birth. It looks as though little has changed during my absence.” He swept a hand in my direction. “Fellows, this is Evelyn Stormbourne, Lady of Thunder, and heir to the throne of Inselgrau.”

  “Which we hear has been toppled quite thoroughly,” Aodan said and I took an instant disliking to him. “Vater has been receiving regular updates. We’ve been expecting to see you here, Gid. What took you so long?”

  If I were a dog, my ears would have perked, and my hackles would have risen. A low growl rumbled in my throat, but I bit it back.

  Gideon must have sensed the tension in me though. “Easy, Aodan. It’s been a rough trip. She’s your guest. It wouldn’t hurt you to treat her as such.”

  Aodan narrowed his eyes and sneered. “I’m sure Vater will have a treat in store for her when you bring her to the castle.”

  Distant thunder rumbled and everyone turned in its direction. The sky above us matched the blue of Loren’s eyes, so the warning of a storm sounded out of place. The hostility between our group thickened, and Aodan’s eyes flashed. “We’ll be having none of your tricks around here, Stormbourne. You’re going to learn your place.”

  The thunder clapped, and everyone jumped except for me. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked through clenched teeth.

  “Everyone take it easy,” Gideon said. “Aodan, we only want to get to the castle and pay proper respects to your father without any trouble.”

  “Tell that to your little thunder cloud,” Aodan said, but with less ferocity. He exhaled and shrugged. “Let’s go. We’ll be back at the castle in a few hours.”

  “We’ve only got the one horse,” Gideon said.

  Aodan cursed. “Loren, ride ahead. Tell Father Gideon has returned. I’ll escort them, and we’ll be there by dark.”

  “Yes, cousin.” Loren nodded and rode back into the trees from which he and his odious cousin first appeared.

  “Give the girl your horse,” Aodan suggested after a mile-or-so of moving at the slower pace Wallah required under the burden of two riders. “She can keep up with me, and I’ll tell them to send a carriage back for you.”

  Gideon snorted. “I was about to make the same suggestion to you.”

  I wanted to take him aside and ask him what I should expect. What had Aodan meant about me “learning my place” and Lord Daeg having a “treat” in store for me? I wanted to know more about Gideon’s past here, and about his own family, but he had put on his familiar aloof countenance, the one that discouraged personal questions.

  We reached the outlying homes and businesses of Steinerland as the blues and purples of twilight deepened. Rough and tumble city boys rushed by us to light the streetlights before darkness descended. Gideon and I dismounted to give Wallah a break, and Aodan left his saddle as well, though he made it seem like a great inconvenience.

  “Where is the castle?” I asked Gideon in a soft voice, trying to discourage Aodan from overhearing our conversation.

  “It’s on the other side of the city and a few miles out. It’s a big estate and ancient. The city built out from the village that used to support it.”

  Aodan overheard us despite our whispers and stepped closer. “Aye, it’s the largest and oldest estate on the whole continent that’s still held by its original family. Vater’s only made it richer since he inherited it, and it sticks like a thorn in the side of Parliament. Vater’s not the king, but people still treat him like one.”

  Aodan’s naked regard for his father reminded me of my own. Was his father as flawed as mine was turning out to be? Probably. Not that Aodan would ever admit it. “I don’t know how I never heard about him,” I said, trying to pop his arrogant bubble.

  “Your father kept you in ignorance.” He shrugged. “Bet he didn’t tell you how much Dreutch hates the Stormbournes, either, did he? The Stormbournes stole what was rightfully ours. Vater’s going to see that we get it back.”

  I stopped dead in the middle of the busy Steinerland street. The carriage horses behind us stepped hastily to dodge me. “What’s he talking about, Gideon?”

  Aodan crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head. “Yeah, Gid, why don’t you explain it to her?”

  Gideon’s face flushed and his fists clenched at his sides. I wondered if Aodan noticed.

  “Gideon,” I said. “You’ve been hinting at this since the day we fled Fallstaff. It’s time I got some answers.”

  “Right now?” He rolled his eyes. “Let’s get to Daeg Castle before it gets any later. We can talk then.”

  “You’ve been holding out on her,” Aodan said. “I wondered how you got her here without putting her in chains.”

  Gideon stepped forward. His nostrils flared and he bared his teeth. “Shut up, Aodan.”

  A couple passing on the walkway near us recoiled at his gruff tone. They picked up their pace, hurryin
g to put distance between us before they ended up as fodder in a street brawl. Aodan laughed and started off without waiting to see if we followed.

  “Gideon—” I began.

  “The chains are starting to sound like a good idea, Evie. Please, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, but not here in the middle of the road.”

  “Promise me. No more hints, no more evasive answers. You tell me everything, or I’ll run for it now.”

  He blew a noisy breath between his teeth. “I have a horse and you don’t.”

  “I’m a lot smaller than a horse. And I can hide.”

  He glowered at me. “Quit being childish. You have to trust me, Evie.”

  “You told me not to trust anyone, remember? I trusted Jackie, like an idiot, and look what it got me.”

  Gideon’s eyes hardened and a muscle flexed in his jaw. He stepped forward, imposing his superior height over me. “Don’t you ever compare me to that vile Magician.”

  He was so close I could feel the loathing in his words. His breath burned on my cheek and I tensed, expecting him to strike. He flinched at my reaction. His shoulders drooped and he backed away. “Run if you want to, Evie, but I’ll track you to the ends of this world. And, unlike Faercourt, I won’t give up.”

  I closed my eyes and stumbled as a wave of nausea washed over me. “How—how do you know he’s given up?”

  Gideon voided his anger with one whooshing breath. He pulled me to him and pressed his lips to the crown of my head. “I don’t know, but he’ll not ever have you—not so long as I live.”

  Though I had only recently begun to know him, I believed he never made meaningless vows. He waited silently for me to make the next decision.

  I wondered what other choice I had? Go along and trust him to keep me safe, or spend my life looking over my shoulder? How long would I last? “Okay, I’ll come with you. I hope to the gods I won’t regret it.”

  Gideon relaxed and let me go. He stepped back, and cool night air seeped between us. “It’s only about five more miles. Do you want to ride Wallah for a while?”